Web comment

Mark Ritson’s piece on going back to brand basics sparked a debate on the website. Here are some of your comments:

Beyond the basics

• Advertising has a purpose and has to work to support the brand. But are we saying that our audience hasn’t moved beyond the basics to be able to connect concepts and brands without shouting the obvious from the proverbial rooftop?

Hannah Burnell

• It would be sad if these companies were to lose the quality of advertising that, while perhaps not directed properly in terms of the brand, did engage people (the Cadbury gorilla and the eyebrows ad have racked up around 15 million YouTube hits). These ads created talking points in which the brand did feature, and are some of the most creative and inspiring around.

Anonymous

• We often remember cool and funny ads but forget the brand that is being advertised. As Tom Fishburne’s cartoon remarks: “This campaign won’t do diddly squat for our client, but it might win us an advertising award” (MWlinks.co.uk/FadMen). It’s time to focus on the joy of eating chocolate and friendship bridges built over lakes of beer.

Alexei Domorev

• While the new Stella Artois work is eye-catching, simple and great in tone, the fact is that a ‘return to heritage’ should be more than simply the location and year of birth. These are meaningless without more context. Most notable beer brands have some form of history to bank on. It feels like the easy way out and doesn’t do enough for me to find an emotional connection with the brand.
• Cadbury is an interesting one. One could easily argue that Gorilla and Eyebrows captured the essence of that moment of joy you feel as the chocolate melts in your mouth. The new platform does stand out and is probably quite ownable – but is it as engaging or too literal with its link to the chocolate factory?

Emad Nadim